This photo is actually several weeks old – taken at the Niobrara Valley Preserve right after the big wildfires had blown through. On this particular evening, I was crossing a bridge over the river and saw a photographer working to capture the evening light coming through the spray of a waterfall. I had just enough time to squeeze off a couple shots of him before he started packing up his tripod to leave.

A photographer catching the evening light through the waterfall just upstream of the Norden Bridge – The Nature Conservancy’s Niobrara Valley Preserve. Click on the photo to see a larger, sharper version.

When I took this picture, I was covered in soot from working all day in recently-burned areas. The photographer, the beautiful light, and the clean water passing over the falls were all in stark and welcome contrast to most of the surrounding landscape, which consisted largely of scorched earth and trees. The scene was like a small peephole into what the larger landscape had been like just a few days earlier.

I’ve delayed posting this photo because I wasn’t sure whether I liked it because of my emotions at the time or because it was really a quality photo. To be honest, I’m still not sure, but it’s time to post it anyway. I hope you enjoy it.

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About Chris Helzer

Chris Helzer is the Director of Science for The Nature Conservancy in Nebraska. His main role is to evaluate and capture lessons from the Conservancy’s land management and restoration work and then share those lessons with other landowners – both private and public. In addition, Chris works to raise awareness about the importance of prairies and their conservation through his writing, photography, and presentations to various groups.
Chris is also the author of "The Ecology and Management of Prairies in the Central United States", published by the University of Iowa Press. He lives in Aurora, Nebraska with his wife Kim and their children.

Gorgeous photo! And melmannphoto is right: Seeing the photographer helps understand the scale — I wouldn’t have thought the waterfall was that big (it IS Nebraska afterall!) without the teeny man to demonstrate. Besides, at this point in the drought here in Oklahoma, where it seems like our entire state is burning, seeing ANY water is refreshing!

Your photo brings back memories. I canoed the Niobrara as a young boy scout. I was small enough at that time that I could sit on the bow with each leg hanging over the sides so my feet could reach the water. This actually balanced the canoe better because the scout leader, Mr. Hawkins, who was in the back, was so much bigger than me. While canoeing, the Mr. Hawkins and I traveled through a feature like the one in your photo. They called it “the shoot.” When we went through “the shoot” the canoe rolled sideways 90 degrees. Mr. Hawkins flew out of the canoe and into the water. As a flexible young boy, I was able to lean far enough over to not only stay on the canoe, but I was actually able to make it roll back to level. There I was, a small boy, sitting on the bow of a canoe, paddle in hand, going down the river alone. I paddled to the river’s edge and waited for Mr. Hawkins to catch up. After he got out of the river and composed himself, the first thing he asked me was “How did you stay in the canoe?” I did not know, I just did. :)